Monday, 29 June 2015

The lessons for Class 5, the last in our course, are now available on the course website:

https://weka.waikato.ac.nz/moredataminingwithweka The 6 lessons in Class 5 addresses some important miscellaneous issues. Two are devoted to neural networks, both the simple Perceptron and multilayer Perceptrons — sometimes called “connectionist” models. Then we consider that perennial question, “how much data is enough?”, and show how to answer it using learning curves. Next we look at how to optimise the parameters of learning algorithms, and finally we return to the very beginning and re-visit the ARFF format, including some useful features that haven’t yet been encountered.

The post-course assessment is also now open. The videos, slides and transcripts will remain available at YouTube, Youku and the "Materials" site:

We aim to run both the introductory course “Data Mining with Weka” and “More Data Mining with Weka” again, but are not yet sure when. As for a possible third course, “Advanced Data Mining with Weka”, that’s still under consideration: there’s no schedule yet.

Monday, 22 June 2015

In this class we'll learn about two topics: attribute selection and cost-sensitive classification. Automatic selection of an attribute subset is a powerful way of getting both good results and simpler, easily explainable, models from machine learning; indeed you will end up achieving stunning results with a tiny subset of attributes on a document classification task. And taking the costs of different kinds of error into account is essential in many practical applications.

Next week is the last. Pretty soon you will be an expert in data mining and the use of Weka!

Monday, 15 June 2015

The mid-course assessment is also now available. Do it when you have finished Class 2 (although it will remain open for the rest of the course). The final assessment will appear during week 5.

Check your Profile to ensure that your assessment marks have been recorded correctly. Also, check that the name in your Profile is the one you want on your Statement of Completion: as we will use that exact text for the Statements.

My goal is to enable you to learn as much as possible from this course, and I recognize that doing the assessments may not be a priority for you. However, our ability to mount follow-up MOOCs will depend on the success of this one as perceived by my University -- and the number of people who complete it successfully will be a key metric. Thus I urge you to do the assessments for my sake, if not your own :-)

cheers, and keep going! Weeks 3 and 4 are the central part of this course.

Monday, 8 June 2015

The mid-course assessment, following Class 2, is also available. Following that, there are 3 weeks to go (classes 3, 4 and 5).

The activities are a crucial part of the course: they're where most people will do their actual learning! However, they do not form part of the assessment, so don't be scared to get wrong answers. Also, some of the activities are pretty difficult and time-consuming. You don't necessarily need to actually complete them if you find that difficult on your computer, but you do need to understand what it is that you are supposed to do -- and why.

"More Data Mining with Weka" has been designed so that participants at many different levels can learn as much as possible – and complete the course successfully. You don't have to do the reading. All you must do to succeed are the mid-course and final assessments -- which you can try as often as you like. The mid-course assessment will remain open for the rest of the course; the final assessment will appear during week 5.

The videos and other course components for Classes 1 and 2 can be downloaded from the "Materials" site, in case you find that more convenient than viewing them online:

Thursday, 21 May 2015

We will be closing the current session of Data Mining with Weka on the 25th May.A new session of More Data Mining with Weka is now open for enrolment and will start on 1 June 2015.

You do not have to have actually obtained a Statement of Completion for the introductory Data Mining with Weka MOOC to embark on More Data Mining with Weka, but you will certainly need equivalent knowledge.

In this second MOOC — even more than the first — you will do most of your learning in the Activities, and you should allow extra time for them because they’re a bit more challenging than before. Otherwise the format, and time commitment, is the same as the earlier course. Again, you do not have to complete the Activities to get a Statement of Completion: that’s based solely on your performance in the mid-class and end-of-class assessments.

There’s more information about the course in the trailer video: it’s informative, entertaining, and only about 3 minutes long.

Monday, 4 May 2015

This class introduces some more advanced methods and techniques. The topics are:

4.1: Classification boundaries

4.2: Linear regression

4.3: Classification by regression

4.4: Logistic regression

4.5: Support vector machines

4.6: Ensemble learning

The last three are high-performance contemporary algorithms. I aim to give you a conceptual understanding of what they do and how they work, but not the gory details. You have to learn to live and work in a world where you don't understand everything. You will see some mathematics in Lessons 4.2, 4.3 and 4.5. But don't worry: I'll explain it, and anyway you don't have to fully understand the math.

Next week is the last. And it's short: Class 5 has only 4 lessons, not the usual 6. And it's more relaxed: no math at all.

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

The mid-course assessment is also available. Do it when you have finished Class 2 (although it will remain open for the rest of the course). The final assessment will appear during week 5. Check your profile to see that your marks have been recorded correctly.My goal is to enable you to learn as much as possible from this course, and I recognize that doing the assessments may not be a priority for you. However, our ability to mount follow-up MOOCs will depend on the success of this one as perceived by my University -- and the number of people who complete it successfully will be a key metric. Thus I urge you to do the assessments for my sake, if not your own :-)

cheers, and keep going! Weeks 3 and 4 are the central part of this course.Ian

Monday, 20 April 2015

The activities are a crucial part of the course: they're where most people will do their actual learning! However, they do not form part of the assessment, so don't be scared to get wrong answers.

"Data Mining with Weka" has been designed so that participants at many different levels can learn as much as possible – and complete the course successfully. You don't have to do the reading. All you must do to succeed

are the mid-course and final assessments -- which you can try as often as you like. The mid-course assessment will become available this week (24 April) and remain open for the rest of the course. The final assessment will appear during week 5.cheers, and keep going!Ian